Sanada (wrestler)

Sanada
Sanada as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in April 2023
Birth nameSeiya Sanada
Born (1988-01-28) January 28, 1988 (age 36)[1][2][3]
Niigata, Japan[1][2][3]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)The Great Sanada[4]
Kiyonari Sanada
Seiya Sanada
Sanada
Billed height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[1][2][3]
Billed weight100 kg (220 lb)[3]
Trained byTaiyō Kea
Kaz Hayashi[5]
Keiji Muto[6]
Osamu Nishimura[5]
Satoshi Kojima[5]
Kohei Suwama[5]
DebutMarch 13, 2007[1][2][3]

Seiya Sanada (真田 聖也, Sanada Seiya, born January 28, 1988),[1][2] better known by his mononymous ring name Sanada (stylized in all caps), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and its War Dogs sub-group. He is a former and longest-reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.

As part of NJPW, Sanada is mostly known for his tag team with Evil as a part of Los Ingobernables de Japón, with whom he is a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, two-time World Tag League winner, and a three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion (alongside Bushi). He also had a short reign as IWGP Tag Team Champion with Tetsuya Naito. He won his first NJPW singles title, the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, in early 2022, and won the 2023 New Japan Cup, which led to him winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. He is also known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the first Gaora TV Champion, a two-time All Asia Tag Team Champion, a one-time World Tag Team Champion, and the winner of the 2011 World's Strongest Tag Determination League tournament. Sanada is also known for his time in the Japanese Wrestle-1 (W-1) and American Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotions. Through the W-1/TNA working relationship, Sanada became a one time TNA X Division Champion, winning the title at the collaborative Kaisen: Outbreak.

  1. ^ a b c d e 真田 聖也. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  2. ^ a b c d e 真田 聖也. Wrestle-1 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Sanada". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Impact082714 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Sanada".
  6. ^ 青春ハリケーン 真田 聖也. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2014-07-28.